Pure Sine Wave Inverters

[Janette]

Hi,
Are the cheap pure sine wave inverters on Ebay ok? I went to buy one on special in a camping store today and there were none in stock. I have my doubts that they are any better than the cheap stuff on Ebay. It was a noname type brand I never heard of.

Thanks Janette

[norman]

All I can say is buyer beware. And welcome to our place...

[RussellB[SA]]

You get what you pay for, if its for a CPAP machine and your life depends on it buy reputable and local.

As said before buying local may be better than sight unseen but cheap.

Last one I bought was Projecta brand local.

[Janette]

Thanks Norman and Russell.

I bought a battery box with fittings and that split the first time I used it, but it seems the same as in the store I went to today.

Thanks for the welcome.
Janette

[T1 Terry]

Hi Janette and welcome. Many of the cheaper inverters must use different size watts to the ones appliances use. Only a quality 1000w inverter will power a 1000w device for a long period, often they drop their bundle within seconds with an overload light flashing.
Some of the features you are looking for, a C Tick approval, a stamp with a C outside shape, virtually a circle and a correct type tick in the middle, auto reset, pure sine wave, a single outlet unless the outlets have only the 2 top pins, all to do with multiple appliance safety and I have no interest in going there
Stuff like this http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Pure-Sine-Wa ... 3f1081fb33 forget about getting the 1000w unless you know what you are doing to readjust the dashpots inside but out of the box they will reliably supply 800W. I have one that has belted out 1000w for over 3 yrs now without any problems but don't take that as a personal endorsement or a promotion of the product, just an example, I have a heap of fried ones as well from other makers.
The more expensive units often have a lot more safety stuff as part of the inverter, lower no load amp draw and stuff like that, horses for courses, worth it if you plan to hard wire it but if you only plan to plug in one appliance at a time and turn it off when you are finished the C Tick approved units are ok.

T1 Terry

[Janette]

Thanks heaps Terry,
I'm just looking for a 300w tops to charge a computer or phones occasionally with one at a time and unplugged when not it use. Most I have 12v chargers for, but not all.
Thanks
.

[T1 Terry]

If you get one like this remove the aligator clips and wire it to the battery or shunt if you have a battery monitor with a 50 amp fuse in the positive cable close to the battery. These will even power the electric balanket to warm the bed for those bitterly cold nights just wonderful.

T1 Terry

[Janette]

That is the one I was thinking of buying.
Thanks heaps Terry.

[John M]

I needed a charger as well so bought one similar to this, http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-9000W-PE ... 3f1ad8427e
bit of an overkill but as we like the ability to use the washing machine etc in the bush need the bigger capacity, have had it now for a couple of months but haven't really put it through it's paces yet, other in trying it out and seeing just what it will do. It can run the A/c though the draw is a bit large to sustain, 100A on start up and 70A+ and then only 10A with the fan on. The biggest drawback I can see with the unit is the auto switchover to inverter if the shore power is disconnected, that is if we are connected to shore power (and using the A/c) if some one were to kick the power cord out of the socket or the power was to go off the unit automatically switches to inverter mode, if this was to happen at night the first indication I would have would be the Low battery alarm screaming.
The stand by power use appears a bit high at 3.5A but as we can switch it from the remote and it will normally only be turned on when needed I don't see this as a problem.

[T1 Terry]

Hi John,
I have one of those inverter/chargers, bought it probably 12 mths ago and it;s still in the box I was thinking of mounting it in the Mazda but room is the big issue.
Is your unit laying down on it's back or standing upright?
How noisy are the fans when it starts working seriously?
What size is your air cond?
Have you actually measured the standby current?

I think we will have the battery capacity to power the air con if we have the room to mount the bits. the other choice is to fit the monster at home and take the small inverters, skip using the air con and run 2 separate power circuits, one from each inverter, each with it's own RCD/RVD combo circuit breaker, doubles the cost and complexity but reduces the over all bulk of the inverter.

T1 Terry